If any healthcare professional is asked if there is a shortage of personnel, especially in Primary Care, in Spain the answer is a resounding yes. To try to fix this problem, The government has decided that those who will retire are those who cover places not covered by outpatient polyclinics.especially family doctors and pediatricians. This action did not go unnoticed by health professionals.

healing view shortage of doctors as a problem that urgently requires the introduction of measures to reduce the shortage of health workers in Primary Care, which the Spanish Society of General and Family Practitioners (SEMG) has warned is imminent. So, has decided to make changes in the State Gazette and approved an increase in active pensions. “The consolidated text of the General Social Security Act was amended to allow for the activity of retired professionals and thereby contribute to reducing the shortage of doctors in primary care, family doctors or pediatricians in the National Health System”, said the BOE.

Size enables Primary Care professionals, family doctors and pediatricians of retirement age to make 75% of their retirement compatible with active service full time or part time over three years. Only those who reach the legal retirement age enacted in 2023 will be able to access an increased active pension. In other words, if the health worker is 65 years and eight months old, has contributed more than 36 years and nine months, or if he is 65 years old he has contribute for 15 years and two of those years are two years before retirement he will be able to access it.

On the other hand, this is pilot projectwhich according to the Official College of Physicians can be extended to other hospital specialties, where there is a shortage of health workers, if measures are successful. Additionally, they emphasize that this is a measure that allows workloads, for example the number of patients they see per day, to decrease.

From SEMG they think so Incentives must be included from the start of the career so that more health workers are willing to enter this specialty. They also pointed out that it is important to prevent the flight of talent to other countries and included measures in order for them to decide to live and work in the country. On the other hand, they think that it is necessary to match the salaries that toilets can earn in Spain with the European average because they are far below.

Increasing active pensions is not the first step the Government has taken to try to end the shortage of health workers in the system. In November, the ministry led by Carolina Darias made an appeal for them foreign specialists wishing to train in Spain can validate their qualifications.

Lack of toilets in Spain

When comparing the health workforce in Spain with other European countries, it is below. This It has 4.08 doctors per thousand population, a low number compared to others like Italy, which has almost twice as many doctors (8.01), France (6.56) or Germany (4.30). Regarding nurses, the peninsula (except Portugal) has 6 nurses per thousand people, a lower number than other countries such as Germany (13.49), France (11.47) and United Kingdom with (10.29 ).

Of the more than 40 existing medical specialties, there are a lack of professionals in family medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, anesthesiology and radiodiagnosis. The shortage of health personnel is mainly due to the lack of hope for the future, the scenario of permanent health, the personnel being mistreated because of the conditions, the time they work, the lack of financing in Spanish health, especially in Primary Care, the type of contracts and the workload. , among others.